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“Did I ever tell you how I became homeless?”
This was so unexpected, Isabella couldn’t get a word out. “Good to know that Jerry can keep his mouth shut. Anyway…” Dan’s eyes turned dull, staring out toward the window. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes seemed like she was about to cry, but she didn't. Her posture changed from a feisty old woman to someone broken.
“I was married once,” Dan said in a monotone voice and stopped for a brief moment like time itself ceased around her. Isabella had never seen Dan like this before. “My husband. I loved him dearly. He was my rock, you know.” A faint smile crossed her lips as her mind wandered off in thought.
“What happened?” Isabella asked, feeling a tight sensation choking her up from the inside, hurting her in the deepest corners of her heart.
“He died,” Dan said crossing her arms, holding onto her shoulders. “It was his birthday. We had friends come over for dinner, and I sent him out to get us a bottle of expensive wine. We already had wine at home, but it wasn’t good enough for me. We argued about it. He said who cares if it’s not fancy? Stubborn as I am, I wouldn’t let it go until I won the argument. So he went to buy one. It was the last time I ever saw him. His car was T-boned by a construction truck and he died on impact.”
“Oh Dan!” Isabella threw herself on Dan, covering her in a tight hug with tears streaming down her face. “I’m so terribly sorry.” For a while, Dan was motionless and out of place, before finally leaning her head back, staring at the ceiling as if she were swallowing her tears and forcing them to flow back into her eyes.
“It’s all good now. I blamed myself for a long time. Wanted nothing to do with the insurance money. I just wanted to be left alone. The streets felt like a fitting place for me.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Liam said with a warm, sad smile. Dan looked at him under Isabella's tight hug.
“No, but I shall carry my punishment ‘til my last breath. And don’t try to convince me otherwise.” She placed a hand on Isabella and gave her arm a gentle squeeze, clearly appreciating the gesture of comforting her. “Thank you.” Dan leaned back into her chair as she felt Isabella's warm touch on top of her wrinkly old hand. “The reason why I told you this isn’t to make us all go on an emotional rollercoaster ride. I’m telling you this because I couldn’t take it if something ever happened to you. I would blame myself forever, just like I blamed myself for what happened to my husband. It would be more than I could bear.” Both their eyes met in a deep meaningful gaze, staring at each other's soul, seeing into each other’s hearts, knowing they were not much different after all. Dan held out a hand to wipe Isabella's tears away. Isabella nodded to show Dan that she understood and would respect her wish.
“So if I can't be the bait, what else could we do? He won’t come close enough for you to catch him unless he sees me.” Liam started walking up and down, stroking his chin, stuck deep in thought. Then suddenly he stopped with a face that looked as if he’d just figured it all out. He smiled with that handsome, cheeky smile of his that made him look irresistible.
“Thinks he sees you…” Dan and Isabella exchanged confused looks.
“What do you mean?”
Liam took huge strides like he just leaped toward the table they sat on. He placed both hands on it, almost slamming them in place while leaning closer toward them. “Do you still have that beautiful but totally wrong century dress of yours?” Isabella could not be more confused. Dan on the other hand started to grin.
“Yes. It’s in that plastic bag in the bedroom. Why?”
Liam enthusiastically pushed himself back up from the table with a huge grin stuck to his face. “Because the answer to this problem lies in the most unmanly thing I have ever done.”
Dan met his gaze. “More unmanly than those man-cakes?”
“That’s not for me to decide…” He stared at Isabella with a suspicious looking smile.
Isabella tried to stay as serious as much as she could, but her chest ultimately gave in as she burst out into laughter which sounded more like she was trying to gasp for air. Never had she had the pleasure of seeing a man dressed like this. Liam had finally revealed himself after disappearing into the bedroom for quite some time, and much to her surprise, he was wearing her dress!
He only wore the outer dress, most likely due to the fact that there was absolutely no way for the undergarments to fit his muscular frame. The dress hung loosely over his defined shoulders and was too short, revealing his ankles and feet. Isabella clapped as if she had just witnessed the most marvelous opera performance, screamingbravo.
“You look breathtaking!” she said, still laughing and out of breath.
“Definitely worse than the man-cakes,” Dan shook her head in disbelief.
“Thank you, both of you,” Liam said with a fierce grin, strutting his stuff like he was a supermodel on a runway. “I am confident enough of a man to not let you question my manhood.”
“Ghost will never fall for this. You'll scare the man to death, maybe even have the police on our tail thinking you’re some kind of pervert.” Dan covered her forehead with one of her hands. “I can already hear the radios going, 'A huge pervert in a period dress is running loose on the streets of Philly, shoot on sight’.” Dan tried not to laugh at her own joke. Liam was unfazed.
“That’s because the magic happens in the dark,” he said in a sexy voice, throwing Isabella a wink that made her blush in laughter.
“He's definitely getting himself shot.” Dan rolled her eyes toward Isabella. Liam walked over to the light switch and turned it off. The room fell into darkness with just enough light coming in from the window to form his silhouette.
“How about now?”
Isabella and Dan stared at him in utter astonishment. The shadows of the night had transformed a muscular, tall man in an overly small dress into a true Victorian lady. Isabella's dress was just fluffy enough to hide Liam's manly figure—if you were half blind that is or it was dark.
“I have to say, I am rather impressed!” Isabella tried to be serious, just inches away from having her chest explode into laughter. “From several meters away, I think you could pass for a true lady!”
"Yeah. If he was a mile away and the other person had worse eyesight than mine." Dan smirked. But then she stood up to get a better look at Liam. "But seeing that we are out of options, I think this might actually work,” she agreed.
“Good." Liam gave Dan a thumbs up before turning the lights back on. "Now. Let’s work on the details then.”
